Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

With incredible skill, passion, and insight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam returns us to a glorious time when the dreams of a now almost forgotten America rested on the crack of a bat.

The year was 1949, and a war-weary nation turned from the battlefields to the ball fields in search of new heroes. It was a summer that marked the beginning of a sports rivalry unequaled in the annals of athletic competition. The awesome New York Yankees and the indomitable Boston Red Sox were fighting for supremacy of baseball's American League, and an aging Joe DiMaggio and a brash, headstrong hitting phenomenon named Ted Williams led their respective teams in a classic pennant duel of almost mythic proportions — one that would be decided in an explosive head-to-head confrontation on the last day of the season.

Review:

"It is a study of all the elements and personalities that influenced baseball that year and beyond. Halberstam brings them together in such an enjoyable, interesting, and informative manner that a reader needn't be a baseball fan to appreciate the book." Library Journal

Review:

"Dazzling...heart-stopping...altogether engrossing....A celebration of a vanished heroic age." The New York Times Book Review

Review:

"The national pastime at its most innocent, heroic best....David Halberstam brings the era vividly to life." Washington Post Book World

Review:

"In a league by itself....A superb re-creation of a legendary summer of baseball — and of a time and a place that once was America." Detroit News

Review:

"A gorgeous story with personalities and anecdotes jam-packing every page." Newsweek

Review:

"A very special book....Even if you're not a baseball fan, this is an exciting story." Wall Street Journal

About the Author

David Halberstam was one of America's most distinguished journalists and historians. He covered the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement and reported for the New York Times on the war in Vietnam. The author of fifteen bestsellers, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his Vietnam reporting. He was killed in a car accident on April 23, 2007, while on his way to an interview for what was to be his next book.

"Review"
by Library Journal,
"It is a study of all the elements and personalities that influenced baseball that year and beyond. Halberstam brings them together in such an enjoyable, interesting, and informative manner that a reader needn't be a baseball fan to appreciate the book."

"Review"
by The New York Times Book Review,
"Dazzling...heart-stopping...altogether engrossing....A celebration of a vanished heroic age."

"Review"
by Washington Post Book World,
"The national pastime at its most innocent, heroic best....David Halberstam brings the era vividly to life."

"Review"
by Detroit News,
"In a league by itself....A superb re-creation of a legendary summer of baseball — and of a time and a place that once was America."

"Review"
by Newsweek,
"A gorgeous story with personalities and anecdotes jam-packing every page."

"Review"
by Wall Street Journal,
"A very special book....Even if you're not a baseball fan, this is an exciting story."

Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and gifts — here at Powells.com.